[News] More cast members revealed for upcoming ‘Kindaichi’ special drama

CREDITS: Tokyohive

More cast members revealed for upcoming ‘Kindaichi’ special drama

by simplymissj on September 2, 2012 at 10:07 pm

Share on Tumblr

Earlier we wrote that Hey! Say! JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke would star in the upcoming Kindaichi Hajime drama.  Now, additional cast members have been revealed.
On September 1, it was announced that popular Taiwanese actress Vivian Hsu (37) would appear in the upcoming Nihon TV special drama “Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo  -  Hongkong Kowloon Treasure Murder Case” that will be broadcast in the winter.  It has been 11 years since she appeared in a Japanese drama as her last Japanese drama appearance was in Nihon TV’s “Honke no Yome”  back in 2001.

Vivian appears as fashion designer Ivy Liu, a key figure that is involved with the secret of and holds the key to the “Kowloon Treasure”.  She raised anticipation for her role with, “As a female who has a secretive past and who holds an important secret, my character is also a candidate for the criminal.  My character is a key person in the case.”  She continued with anticipation, “This is my first suspense drama.  I think this drama is interesting as it instills tension.”
The series is based off of the popular manga that started in 1992 as a serial in “Weekly Shonen Magazine” (Kodansha).  The manga that has been adapted to dramas several times, continues to garner a huge following even after welcoming their 20th anniversary.  Using the episode published on the July 11 issue as its base, the original writer of the story in the series, Amaki Seimaru, will, for the first time ever, write the script for the drama.  The drama revolves around a fashion show in Hong Kong that Kindaichi Hajiime’s childhood friend Miyuki attends.  During the show, “fourth-generation” Kindaichi Hajime (played by Hey! Say! JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke) must solve an incident that arises at the event that is tied to a serial killer.
Additional cast members that will participate in the drama include stars from all around Asia.  Taiwanese idol group Farenheit’s former member Wu Zun (Wu Chun) will play Taiwanese security police Li Byron, while popular Korean group Big Bang’s V.I will play Korean exchange student Kim London.  Famous Taiwanese actor and MC Eric Tsang will play Wan Ron,“The King of Kowloon,” who ruled Kowloon in the early 90s and was assassinated by someone.
In addition, other Japanese cast members include Hey! Say! JUMP’s Arioka Daiki, who will play Kindaichi’s reliable junior and “video camera otaku” Saki Ryuji and Kiritani Kenta, who will play “Tokyo  Girly Mode” manager Takigawa Ryuta.  Arioka spoke enthusiastically with, “It is a bit strange to call Yamada my senior in the drama (as he was my junior in high school), but it is fun to film as a character that helps in solving the case.”  Kiritani also spoke enthusaistically with “In order to get people outside of Japan to say ‘Ohh!!!!’ because of the drama, I acted with my best efforts and used all of my strength.”

Source and Images: Oricon + Nihon TV